Wrench



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WRENCH.

No. 527,181. Patented 0.01. 9, 1894.

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P. W. NELSON.

WRENCH. Y Y No. 527,181. Patented AOct. 9, 1894.

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- UNITED STATES- f PATENT v(v )IT'IFI-CE.

FRANK w. NELSON, 'OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

WRENCH.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 527,181, dated October 9, 1894.

Application lerl May 1,1894. Serial No. 509,694. (No model.

To aZZ whom it mag/concern- Beit known thatl I, FRANK W. NELSON, a citizen of the United States, residing at Chicago, inthe county. of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented a newand useful Improvement in Wrenches, of lwhich the following is a specification.

My invention 'relates to wrenches of the kind known as ratchet-wrenches, and in the particular embodiment herewith presented, my improved wrench is especially adapted for turning leg-screws and the nuts of. bolts vand the like; but by merely modifying the rshape of the jaws it may be adapted to perf wrench.

form any of the functions of a monkey- The nature of myy improvements, and their advantages, will bemade clear by the following description, reference .being had to the accompanying drawings, of which- Figure 1 is a side elevation of my wrench;

Fig. 2, a top view and Fig. 3 a bottom view of the same; Fig. 4, a vertical sectional view taken on the line'et ofFig. 5 and viewed in the direction ofthe arrow; Fig. 5, a vertical longitudinal'section'of the device, taken through the center; Fig. 6, a horizontal section taken on'the line 6'of Fig. 5 and viewed in the direction of the arrow; and Fig. 7, ka horizontal section taken on the line 7 of Fig.

. 5 and viewed in the direction of the arrow.

A is a metal stock, which I prefer to castl in one piece, and Vwhich carries the operating parts.\ It comprises a plate u, having upon? its upper side a vertical lug t, at or near its center, and avertical flange s at its rear end, provided with an extension r for the handle, and having on its lower side a recessed. projection q, from the lower end of which a bearing-plate p extends forward parallel with the plate u.

B is a circular head carrying the jaws. It is suitably recessed to serve as a bearing for certain operating parts, hereinafter to be described, and is provided on its lower side with a shaft, o.

C is a ratchet disk, which fits between the plates u andp of the stock A, and which has an opening through its center, correspondlng with openings through the plates u and p, for the passage of4 the shaft o.

One of the jaws, D, is fixed, and consistsnof it in the head, B, .and having its under face recessed outand provided with female screwthreads y to receive the threads of the screw F below it.` vTo accommodate this screw, the recess in the vhead B is suitably deepened alongits center, to form a housing within which the screw is confined andV held firmly against displacement. Thus housed, no journals-'and journal-bearings are required; but the screw isv provided at its forward end with a reduced extension, lc, in the form of a journal, projecting through the housing and provided'with a recessfhthe functionof which is to permitturning of the screw for adjusting the movable j aw,as hereinafter described.

G, G, are two pawls, pivoted within the recessjin the part q, by means of pins, h, and

,H, IrI,4 are two springs fitting within recesses fin,v the pawls,and within branch recesses f kinftlie part q, and ,tending to maintain the pawlsinlengagement with the cogs of the Vratchet-wheel C. Toppermit either pawl to beI disengaged, a forked lever, I, ofspring metal is pivotally connected to 4the plate uon `its, under side, Vby means ofa: screw, h', the

forked end ofthe lever extending within the part q, and themprongs, e, engaging with projections, CZ, on the rear ends ofthe pawl.

The rear end of the lever I is provided with a boss, c, and the plate u is provided with recesses,b, to receive it. Thus, when the lever I is in line with the center of jthe plate u both Dfi-W18 are heldby the springs H in engagement with the ratchet disk- C; but by throw.- ing the handle of the lever'I either waytthe pawl on thaty side is released, and the ratchet disk left free to turn one way."

It will be observed that the projections d of the pawls G are placed at the inner edges of the latter, and this allows` the forked end IOO yof the lever to be of small size, with a short' space between the prongs e, whereby it is possible to place` the forked end of the leverk wholly within the compass ofthe stock.

Thus placed it is less liable to injury than when the forked end extends beyond the con: iines of the stock, and the advantageis most apparent when working on a scaffold or ladder. The purpose of making the lever of spring metal is to render it less liable to shift after being set.

K is a shaft provided with a milled disk L for turning it. The function of this shaft is to operate the screw F, and thereby adjust the jaw D. The shaft is provided with a beveled end fu, to enter the recess c', and it slides longitudinally in an opening through the lug t, and within a recess a formed in the flanges and extension r thereof. To hold the shaft K in retracted position, the plate u is provided with a spring w, with which the disk L engages.

To put the parts of the wrench together, the screw-driving shaft K and the springs I-I and pawls G must be placed in position before the ratchet disk O and circular head B. The screw-drivin g shaft is inserted backward through the lug t and disk L, and the latter is secured to it by a pin h2, which is driven through a hole extending through the disk and shaft. Next the ratchet disk C is inserted, and then the casting B, carrying the screw F and sliding jaw D', is placed in position by inserting the shaft o through the openings provided for it in the plates u and p and ratchet disk C, and securing it by a pin, h3, driven through a hole extending through the disk and shaft.

To adjust the sliding jaw, one of the pawls G is irst released by throwing the lever I to one side. The part B is then turned until a certain cog is reached, which brings the head of the screw into line with the screw-driver,

which latter is then advanced, operated in the; required, and again retractedz Which of the pawls G is to be released de-l pends, of course, whether the wrench is to be; applied for screwing or unscrewin g. In some direction cases it may be found desirable to have both pawls in engagement with the ratchet disk, and in such cases the lever, after the adjustment of the jaw, only requires to be thrown back into a straight line with the stock.

My improved wrench will be found very convenient where work has to be done in close proximity to a joist or wall. This advantage is due largely to the fact that the head B is round, and receives the nut or screw-head substantially in its center. Moreover, the

' construction is such that when the jaws are once adjusted to an object there is no play, and hence they cannot move or spring back when pressure is applied. It will furthermore bel seenthat every detail of my wrench is designed with a view to eectiveness and convenience. Thus, the ratchet can be turned with the thumb of the same hand that is engaged in holding the handle; also, the lever which operates the pawls, beingitself a spring, automatically engages with one of the notches in the stock when thrown either way, and is thus held in place; and the shape of the stock is such ,that the pressure upon the handle is exerted almost directly in a plane with the object to be turned, leaving room enough only to clear the hand. Incidentally, this position of the handle renders it a most convenient receptacle for the rear end of the screw-driver. However, in matters of mere mechanical detail, my wrench is susceptible of more or less modification without affecting the leading features and the general operation, and hence without departing from the invention.

The expressions upper side and lower side are used only for convenience of description, and have reference to the position of the wrench as shown in the leading figures of the drawings.

VVhat I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. In a wrench, the combination with the stock of a rotary jaw-head B having the fixed jaw D and recessed to afford a guide extending entirely through it for the extension of the movable jaw, and also to aiford a housing below the guide for the adjusting-screw, the walls of said housing forming the bearings for the adj ustin g-screw movable jaw D having the extensionE sliding in said guide, and made concave and screw-threaded on its under surface, screw F housed in the recess in the jaw-head below the guide, and engaging with the screw threads on the `extension E of the movable jaw, means on the stock for turning the screw, and pawl and ratchet mechanism for turning the jaw-head, substantially as described.

2. In a wrench, the combination with the stock of the rotary jaw-head B carrying the xed jaw D, and having extending through it a guide recess for the movable jaw, deepened between its ends to serve as a housing for the adjusting screw, movable jaw D having at a right angle to it the screw-threaded extension E sliding in the guide recess in the jaw-head, adj usting-screw F, housed Within the jaw-head below the guide and engaging with the extension E, extension 7c of said screw projecting .through an opening in the housing and provided with a recess fi, sliding and rotary shaft K mounted in bearings on the stock in line with the extension 7c,\and provided with the disk L and with the beveled end o to enter the recess 11 for adjusting the movable jaw D', and pawl and ratchet mechanism for turning the jaw-head, substantially as described.

3. In a wrench, the combination with the stock provided on its under side with recesses b, and having the upper plate tt, lower plate pand recessed projection q, of the ratchetdisk C, betweenthe plates fu, and p and rigidly fixed to a-rotaryshaft o j ournaled in said plates, jaw-head B also rigid upon the shaft o and carrying the fixed jaw D and movable jaw D with means for adjusting the latter, spring pawls G pivoted in the projection g IOO IZO

of the stock and normally engaging the ratchet disk on opposites sides of the center thereof, projections d at the inner edges of the pawls G, and spring lever I, pivoted upon the stock and provided with prongs e to engage the proj ectionsd, and with a nlug c to enter the recesses b, substantially as described.

4. In a wrench, the combination with the stock of the rotary jaw-head B, having extending through it a recess provided with side channels l and carrying a xed jaw D, movable jaw D having the extension E provided with ribsm fitting the channels Z Aand concave on its Linder side and providedwith female screwthreads y, screw F, engaging the screw threads of the extension E, and having the journal-like extension lo provided with a -won the stock for engaging the disk L, substantially as described.

. FRANK'W. NELSON.n In presence of- W. U. WILLIAMS, J. N. HANsoN. 

